Given the “green fatigue” that has developed in some quarters of the marketplace, we must remember that the sustainability movement is still advancing, with eco-friendly initiatives now commonplace and almost routine. One only needs to follow news coming from industry newsletters like SmartBrief on Sustainability, CSRwire, or Joel Makower’s blog GreenBiz to see daily reports of actions being taken by corporations to address environmental and bottom line interests through green policies.

While walking through the ballpark on a Green Ballpark Tour, I was struck by how much the Giants and their partners – most notably PG&E – do to achieve lofty sustainability goals. The Giants have won MLB’s Green Glove Award as the greenest franchise five years running now – going back to when PG&E first partnered with them to place solar on the ballpark and to obtain LEED Silver status, which they received in 2010. Hearing head groundskeeper Greg Elliot talk about the creative ways they conserve water and use organic products and natural landscaping techniques for a more conscious approach to field maintenance, one is struck by how well the greening of sports is progressing.

Still, I realized how the green messaging we heard on the tour must sound like background noise to many people, and wonder how much it really feels relevant to the average person. It seems to me that sustainability messaging is more important than ever, and that those of us in the communications space must continue to find new ways to connect with people directly in a language that will reach them.  Using sports, entertainment and other sponsorship-friendly platforms to communicate relevant sustainability messaging remains an extremely viable and powerful tool for corporations and NGOs to reach diverse audiences with both their own messaging and consumer calls-to-action. We have to keep being more creative and effective, and not give up our efforts to grab the audience’s attention.

As our work at BSS has evolved the past couple of years, we have spent a great deal of time on civic projects with inherent green strands. While not leading with sustainability messages, these projects and the organizations driving them have shown how sustainability can be a natural feature of any major event, community project or new building. We’ll review some of these projects in the days ahead and suggest ways that new properties can be thinking of sustainability through strategic partnerships of many varieties, including sponsorship.

Sustainable sponsorship is in our future to stay. Let us know how we can help your organization engage in this vital and challenging practice – just one of many ways BSS can help organizations enhance their bottom line and community connection through sponsorship and strategic partnership.

-Kevin
kevin@sponsorshipstrategies.com

Some exciting opportunities to consider include:

• America’s Cup – events in October 2012, then summer and fall of 2013
• 49ers new stadium – opening in 2014
• New Exploratorium science center – opening on the Embarcadero in April 2013
• Bay Bridge re-opening celebration – part of a 2013 Year of the Bay program, opening to take place Labor Day weekend 2013
• Orpheum Theatre naming rights and year-round Broadway series naming – on the market for the first time
• Snow White 75th Anniversary at the Walt Disney Family Museum – November 2012-March 2013, followed by other world class exhibitions
• SF Giants and Oakland A’s post season  – MLB is thriving in the Bay Area and it’s not too early to consider sponsorship of the 2013 season

Companies considering exploration and investment in any of these properties can receive expert counsel and an inside perspective from BSS, the regional leaders in major corporate sponsorship development. Give us a call or drop a note to discuss these or other large scale regional opportunities. We negotiate smart, creating strategic, commercial programs to leverage the best sponsorship properties available.

We wish you the best for the rest of the year and for all your sponsorships and events to come.

-Kevin

Included in their rights package were a rich array of benefits including brand integration at the new Golden Gate Bridge Pavilion (a visitor center at the Bridge), lead history sponsorship of the Golden Gate Festival on May 26-27, inclusion in a wide array of outdoor and mass media promotion, and access to some very unique hospitality. They also received tools for involving employees and the right to promote the sponsorship via various channels. It was this last benefit that became so valuable for the financial services company, as they made sure they told their story through creative ATM and in-branch promos, transit ads and wraps, and use of GGB imagery at other special events and properties they sponsor. It was, in short, a brilliant campaign that required a lot of work from a well-coordinated team, led by Senior Vice President and Regional Marketing Director Alec Hughes.

In conducting this work, Wells Fargo remembered something that so many companies seem to forget – that a sponsorship’s success is largely dependent on the manner in which the company leverages its benefits – and is not limited by what the sponsored property does for the company. A well-designed sponsorship package provides the sponsor company with many valuable benefits that directly generate real value, visibility and associative rights that allow the company to access exclusive IP that non-sponsors cannot utilize. This IP becomes extremely important when dealing with a public domain property like the Golden Gate Bridge, as ambush opportunities abound. In the case of the GGB75 program, official sponsors were granted the right to use the official seal and promote the fact that they are sponsors of the anniversary celebration, a benefit that lasts the entire calendar year. Non-sponsors did not have these rights. The key to success with this particular sponsorship was to effectively use the IP rights, just as an Olympic sponsor must do with the rings.

Wells Fargo, through a wide range of creative activation tools, a fully integrated marketing campaign and a great deal of hard work by a team of internal specialists, made the most of a significant sponsorship investment and, as a result, stood out among a dozen sponsor companies. Congratulations to Wells Fargo, an iconic brand supporting an iconic landmark.

The Giants won their third straight Green Glove Award in 2011, an honor given to the MLB team that operates most sustainably. With a LEED Silver-certified ballpark, an aggressive waste diversion program, green garlic fries stands (powered by PG&E), and the distinction of having been the first solar ballpark (thanks to PG&E), the Giants walk the walk when it comes to sustainability.

PG&E will also work with the Giants to tell community stories via various media channels and in-stadium, including features on PG&E’s Solar Schools program, New Energy Academies and new scholarship initiatives. On July 15^th, PG&E will host a large contingent of education and sustainability partners at the Madison Bumgarner bobblehead day game. In a special on-field ceremony before the game, one dedicated California teacher will receive the third annual PG&E Solar Schools Teacher of the Year award. The winner of the award will throw out a first pitch along with one of the company’s most active employee community volunteers.

We salute PG&E for its ground-breaking green ballpark work and recognize the company for its foresight in helping the Giants be the first baseball team to use solar to power their stadium. Go Giants!

We are now seeking sponsors for the lead position of their season series as well as for targeted category positions. Perhaps most exciting is the opportunity for one company to place their name on the Orpheum Theatre, with brand integration  throughout all related media, event promotion and at the venue. This will be the highest-profile naming opportunity in San Francisco since the opening of Pacific Bell Park in 2000 (also developed by BSS), and will be handled with just the right balance of corporate branding and historic preservation.

SHN has been the face of Broadway in San Francisco for 35 years, bringing the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed shows to Bay Area audiences. SHN presents celebrated new works, popular classics, and pre-Broadway World Premieres including Wicked, Mamma Mia!, Legally Blonde and Hugh Jackman, Back on Broadway – all of which premiered at SHN venues before becoming smash hits in New York and around the world.

The sponsorships include integration into annual media valued at over $10 million along with access to all three theatres, visited by 800,000 people per year attending hundreds of performances. In the 2012-2013 Season, the wildly popular Book of Mormon makes its Bay Area debut. SHN audiences can also look forward to encore performances of The Lion King, Jersey Boys and Wicked, as well as the pre-Broadway World Premiere of Diner and the family favorite Mary Poppins.

Please download a one-sheet describing the 2012 – 2013 sponsorship opportunities at SHN here, and do contact us right away if your company or an agency client might be interested in considering these unique opportunities. With the incredible value included in the sponsorship offerings, we are expecting that the lead season position and the theatre naming opportunity will be snapped up quickly.

Window Poster for GGB75

One only turns 75 once, and the major celebration that is taking place for the Golden Gate Bridge’s big 75th birthday is fitting for one of the greatest architectural icons in the world.

Improvements at the South plaza visitor center are well underway, including spectacular new overlooks, improved trails, and new visitor facilities. The Golden Gate Bridge Pavilion and renovated historic Round House will open in May, just in time for the great Golden Gate Festival that will take place May 26-27 along the north San Francisco waterfront.

All of this would not be possible without the generosity of our ten corporate sponsors and our media partners. In the weeks ahead, we will write an entry on each, sharing the highlights of their partnership with the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy. With a total budget of over $18 million for all anniversary-related work, the sponsors are providing over $4 million to help pay for the celebration. Sponsors are also stepping up to each find their own way to promote the anniversary, whether to internal audiences or via national channels.

Happy Birthday Golden Gate Bridge – here’s to the next 75 years!

For the second year in a row, PG&E has supported this effort to honor and celebrate our troops by offering race fans the opportunity to underwrite the purchase of tickets to major racing events for active duty military, veterans and reservists.  Building on the success of last year’s program, this year’s “PG&E Tickets for Troops” program will provide tickets not only for Military Appreciation Day at the Indy® Grand Prix on August 28th, but will also make it possible for the men and women of the Armed Forces to attend the Toyota/Save Mart 350 on Sunday, June 26th during NASCAR weekend at Infineon Raceway.

The Sunday, June 26th NASCAR event will display a patriotic theme including an air show by the Patriots Jet Demonstration Team, followed by the singing of the National Anthem, military fly-bys and an Army cannon national salute to start off the race. This great partnership between PG&E, the USO and Infineon Raceway offers a tremendous opportunity for race fans to honor our troops and show appreciation in a meaningful way.

PG&E will be providing NASCAR tickets for other deserving community members as well – 200 tickets for Sunday’s race will be distributed to kids and families involved with PG&E’s Solar Schools Program in Sonoma County.

See you at the races, and don’t forget to show your support for the men and women serving our country! Visit Infineon Raceway’s website for information about purchasing NASCAR tickets for troops.

San Francisco Giants President Larry Baer and civic leader and philanthropist Nancy Bechtle were officially introduced as co-chairs of the celebration’s steering committee, and the official anniversary seal was unveiled on the iconic Round House in the southeast plaza. Many more details will be forthcoming in the weeks ahead, but for now, take a look at some of the media coverage from Friday’s announcement at the Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District‘s offices:

San Francisco Chronicle

NBC Bay Area

Visit the 75th Anniversary website for much more information about the many exciting programs and events planned, and see more photos from last Friday’s announcement here. This will be a huge celebration spanning several months, and will be a fitting lead into the America’s Cup races to follow.

As the exclusive sponsorship agency of the celebration, BSS is welcoming inquiries as we seek a series of major corporate and media sponsors to support the event. Companies will enjoy category exclusivity, brand integration into most celebration elements, and close association with one of the most revered landmarks in the world. Please email or call if your company is interested in participating.

Check our site weekly for regular updates on this and other sponsorship news!

We are thrilled to be involved in developing sponsors for the celebration of the Golden Gate Bridge’s 75th Anniversary. The Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy has been contracted to develop a year-long celebration that will include a major festival on Memorial Day weekend 2012, a series of 75 Tributes conducted by high-profile community partners and significant upgrades at the visitor’s area on the south (SF) side of the bridge.

We are working with the Parks Conservancy to develop the sponsors needed to promote and fund these activities. Download the one sheet to learn more about the celebration and the sponsorship opportunities available. Please contact us if your company would be interested in participating and keep checking here for more news.

The World Champion San Francisco Giants are teaming up with PG&E to host several groups of students from PG&E Solar School classes throughout the 2011 season. On Saturday, May 7, a group from Discovery Charter School in San Jose were treated to a behind-the-scenes green ballpark tour, with highlights addressed by Giants staff, telling the story of the country’s first LEED certified existing ballpark.

The group was then able to participate in an on-field ceremony with post-season star Cody Ross just before the Giants and Rockies played a game eventually won by the Giants in thrilling fashion. The Giants, as always, did an outstanding job of taking care of a sponsor and its guests. PG&E does so much great work in the community and the Giants provide an ideal platform for telling their story.